Afghan government must do better in 2016: UN official

Update:
December, 22/2015 - 12:17

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UNITED NATIONS — Afghanistan'sgovernment will need to prove itself worthy of international support in thecoming year, the UN Security Council heard on Monday, as the country faces acreeping threat from the Islamic State group.

Presenting the council with results of the war-torn nation's year oftransition, UN special representative to Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom lookedahead to 2016, saying: "It is vital that the national unity governmentdemonstrates increasingly its effectiveness, not only to the Afghan people butalso donors on whom it is largely dependent."

President Ashraf Ghani was elected last year on a promise to bring peace toa country ravaged by more than three decades of conflict, and to rein inrunaway corruption.

In the coming year, international donors will be forced to make "difficultchoices" about the level and types of assistance they will offer to Kabul,Haysom said, with resources stretched to the limit worldwide amid a series ofhumanitarian crises.

"Afghanistan must show in particular that it is committed to tacklecorruption, making the necessary governance reforms and generating hope for thefuture which will decrease the rate of emigration."

"Afghanistan needs to find a political route to peace," Haysom added.

The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that renews sanctionsagainst the Taliban and its allies, as it has done annually since 1999.

With recent peace efforts at an impasse, Haysom called on the Taliban toreciprocate Kabul's commitments by stepping forward to engage with thegovernment.

Militarily, he said, the Afghan National Security Forces have shown"resilience in the face of an intensified insurgency," and despite recentsetbacks in places like Kunduz.

The ANSF should focus on improving its logistics and boosting morale, aswell as building up its own air support capabilities, he added.

Afghanistan's UN ambassador, Mahmoud Saikal, echoed the concerns of theinternational community about the emerging threat from loyalists of IS, whichis making inroads in the country, challenging the Taliban on their own turf.

"The rapid growth of Daesh in eastern and other parts of Afghanistan shouldbe a serious concern for all of us," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.